The collected articles of Ariel Natan Pasko from 2017/5777 on.
Ariel is an independent analyst and consultant, he is hard-hitting and writes with academic thoroughness and humor. Ariel has a Masters Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy and Policy Analysis, and also BAs in Economics, Politics, and Jewish History and Thought. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Time to Start Imagineering a Post-Ayatollah Iran

A
concerted effort on the part of Iranian citizens rioting, backed by
cyber warfare, American air-power, and Israeli counterintelligence
operations, would succeed in taking down the brutal Iranian regime.
The hour of truth is now. It’s time to start imagineering a
post-ayatollah Iran.

Over
the years, I’ve written about Jewish indigenous rights to the Land
of Israel, and how Israeli foreign policy should support the
non-Arab/Muslim indigenous minorities throughout the Middle East and
North Africa – such as the Kurds – and roll-back the 7th
century Arab/Muslim imperialist conquest of the region. To help
create a New Middle East.

Now,
because the Iranian people are voting in the streets, it’s time for
it’s corollary, a post-ayatollah democratic Iran. Something that
would greatly benefit the Iranian people, America, Israel, the West
in general, and all the peoples of the region. And, disengage Iran
from North Korea; George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil.” See my
“North Korea: The Israeli Connection” to better understand their
relationship.

The
last couple times there were large protests against the government in
Iran in 2009-2010 and again in 2011-2012, the Obama administration
wasted its opportunity to help liberate the Iranian people from the
mullahs, and put the nuclear facilities in the hands of level-headed
people.

Judith
Miller, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and adjunct fellow of the
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, in a recent interview
stated, “...that might have happened in 2009 if Pres. Obama had
lent any support. Pres. Trump is now in this. I’m hoping the
Iranian people get rid of this regime...this is the most serious set
of protests since 1979.”

Former
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under
Bush and Obama agrees,
Retired
Adm. Mike Mullen, wants
the Trump administration to not make the same mistakes as the Obama
administration, and fully back protesters in Iran.

Reza
Pahlavi – Crown Prince of Iran and son of the late Shah – see’s
the historic opportunity and has called on the people of Iran to
participate in acts of civil disobedience, similar to Lech
Walesa/Poland, Nelson Mandela/South Africa, and what occurred during
the fall of the Soviet Union and Berlin Wall.

Alireza
Jafarzadeh,an
active dissident against
the Iranian government, formerly the
chief congressional liaison and public spokesperson for the US office
of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and
best known for revealing the existence of
clandestine nuclear facilities in Iran in 2002, stated
that, “riots have broken out in over 80 cities throughout Iran.”

In
a recent interview, Jafarzadeh
explained that the riots started
because of the economic situation, and accusations of corruption
against the regime, and quickly morphed
into an anti-Khamenei, anti-Rouhani, anti-regime
movement. He stated, “people see the money
that came from America, from
Obama’s Iran deal, that the regime had promised would help improve
people’s economic situations, going instead, to the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard, to Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain, Gaza and
Lebanon.”

Jafarzadeh
said
the Iranian people do not support the foreign interventions and
terrorism that the government has been involved in. He
claimed that, “The
situation now is more
serious than in 2009, because, leaders of the regime are divided
themselves.” He called on the West to designate the leaders of the
regime as, “major violators of Human Rights,” and weaken the
regime further by applying new sanctions to it.

The
Trump administration can do
a lot to bring about regime change in
Iran, and
they shouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of this G-d given window
of opportunity.

“Big
protests in Iran,” Trump tweeted. “The people are finally getting
wise as to how their money and wealth is being stolen and squandered
on terrorism. Looks like they will not take it any longer. The USA is
watching very closely for human rights violations!”

And
then Trump tweeted, “Iran is failing at every level despite the
terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great
Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry
for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of
Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!”

Israeli
PM Netanyahu echoed Trump’s sentiments in a video posted to his
Facebook page saying, “Brave Iranians are
pouring into the streets. They seek freedom. They seek justice. They
seek the basic liberties that have been denied them for decades.
Iran’s cruel regime wastes tens of billions of dollars spreading
hate,” in the region. “This money could have built schools
and hospitals.” Netanyahu continued, “This
regime tries desperately to sow hate between us. But they won’t
succeed. And when this regime finally falls, and one day it will,
Iranians and Israelis will be great friends once again,” (as
before the 1979 Islamic Revolution).

US
Vice President Mike Pence also tweeted support for the protesters,
saying “We will not let them down.”

But,
‘vicious’ tweets and Facebook videos won’t do it. In his recent
national security speech Trump said, “To counter Iran and block its
path to a nuclear weapon, I sanctioned the Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps for its support of terrorism, and I declined to certify
the Iran Deal to Congress.” With Iranians now rioting in the
streets, America must step-up to the plate and commit itself to
absolute victory in Iran, using it’s massive firepower, for the
good of the world.

As Trump said, “A nation that is not prepared to
win a war is a nation not capable of preventing a war.”

Open
US support for the Democratic Revolution in Iran, the protesters,
backed by American air-cover to prevent Iranian security from mowing
them down, would go a long way. Add to that, missile strikes against
selected command-and-control systems, nuclear facilities, government
media outlets, and other selected infrastructure, and you have a
lethal combination, to empower the Iranian people to overthrow their
ayatollahs.

Israel’s
contribution can be significant too. Remember
Stuxnet,the malicious
computer worm – uncovered
in 2010 by Kaspersky Lab – it was
responsible for causing substantial damage to Iran’s nuclear
program up to that point.
The worm was
believed to have been
a jointly built American/Israeli cyberweapon. Israel
is one of the acknowledged world leaders
in cyber warfare.

And,
according to Ronen Bergman, senior correspondent for military and
intelligence affairs for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s Mossad, has
been carrying out counterintelligence operations for some time in
Iran, including sabotage and the assassination of nuclear scientists
and others, involved in Iran’s nuclear program. Bergman in the past
justified the operations, citing former Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who regularly said that Israel should be wiped off the
face of the earth. Ayatollah Khamenei and others continue in his
footsteps.

Bergman
said, refering to Meir Degan, the former chief of the Mossad, “…
he hung a photograph behind him, behind the chair of the chief of
Mossad, And in that photograph you see – an ultra-orthodox Jew –
long beard, standing on his knees with his hands up in the air, and
two Gestapo soldiers standing beside him with guns pointed at him.
One of them is smiling...Degan used to say to his people and the
people coming to visit him from CIA, NSA, etc, ‘Look at this guy
in the picture. This is my grandfather just seconds before he was
killed by the SS,’ we are here to prevent this from happening
again.’”

So,
one can understand Israel’s high motivation to bring down the
mullah regime in Iran.

Supporting
the creation of a pro-western independent Kurdistan bordering Iran,
as a bulwark to help prevent a pro-Iranian Shiite Crescent, from Iran
through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, to the Mediterranean, should be of
immediate interest to policy makers in America, Israel, the Sunni
Arab Coalition, and the West. So too, should they actively resist,
Iranian penetration of neighboring states, support for international
terrorism, and the development of nuclear weapons.

Better
yet, it’s
time to start imagineering a post-ayatollah Iran. A
democratic Iran, denuclearized, and welcomed back into the family of
civilized nations, good to its citizens, and at peace with its
neighbors. The hour of
truth is now, enough
poli-talk, it’s time to act!

THE THINK TANK by

The collected articles of Ariel Natan Pasko from 2017/5777 on. Ariel is an independent analyst and consultant, he is hard-hitting and writes with academic thoroughness and humor. Ariel has a Masters Degree specializing in International Relations, Political Economy and Policy Analysis, and also BAs in Economics, Politics, and Jewish History and Thought. His articles appear regularly on numerous news/views and think-tank websites and in newspapers. He can be contacted at: ArielNatanPasko@columnist.com